AS if United haven't already got enough influence in the England squad, I now hear that the moneymen behind one of the most hotly-tipped World Cup anthem releases are also Red to the core.

The single is the latest concoction from Fat Les, the controversial pop-collective boasting actor Keith Allen, Blur bassist Alex James and artist Damien Hirst, who are poised to follow up their '98 smash hit, Vindaloo, with the equally classy number Who Invented Fish And Chips?

Released on Monday, it is being put out by a brand new Manchester label, Chief, which was hastily constructed when poor old Fat Les looked to be high and dry without a record deal.

Steve, off to Japan this weekend to hand out "Who Invented Fish And Chips?" T-shirts to unsuspecting fans, tells me the decision to pump tens of thousands of pounds of spare change into the project was a "spur of the moment" thing.

"I knew Keith Allen after we met on an ad shoot and then it was just one of those surreal moments when, with four weeks to go, we thought `Why, don't we put the single out ourselves?'" he says.

"There might be around 15 England singles being released but this is the best of the bunch.

"I think its success hinges on what happens during the Sweden game, but either way we hope there will be hordes of Japanese football fans in the stadium wearing our T-shirts. That would be a real boost."